With respect to typical workplace washroom facilities, such as those facilities in a manufacturing plant, health care facility, office building, and the like, maintenance of the facilities is generally assigned to a maintenance team member that visits the facility on a scheduled or periodic basis to refill dispensers and ensure the cleanliness of the facility. The same person or persons may be assigned responsibility for a multitude of washroom facilities within building or business site.
In general, the maintenance person has little to no knowledge of the condition of the facility, especially the fullness state of the dispensers, until actually entering the facility. In this regard, the maintenance person must be prepared for completely empty states of the dispensers in the various facilities they are responsible for. The refill supplies are generally not stocked in the washroom facilities, and the maintenance person must carry sufficient refill supplies for a “worst case scenario”, which can be an overly burdensome task depending on the number of facilities and types of dispensers.
It has also been found that significant product wastage can be attributed to certain maintenance practices. For example, a towel dispenser may be one-third full when checked by a maintenance person. It is a common practice, however, to attempt to overstuff the dispenser with a full refill during a scheduled maintenance visit. This overstuffed condition often results in jamming of the dispenser or overuse of towels by the washroom patrons, for example when multiple towels are dispensed as a result of the overstuffed condition. If the dispenser has an overstuff-prevention device, it is also a practice to discard the remaining towels in the dispenser to that a new, full, refill can be loaded into the dispenser. Over time, such wastage can be quite expensive for the building proprietor.
The industry would benefit from a system and method wherein maintenance personnel are provided with specific instructions regarding the conditions and requirements of a particular washroom facility upon entering the respective facility that reduce the amount of wastage generated with conventional practices.